I lived in Shanghai, and later Dali, for many years. My hobby was street photography, and I spent hours walking the streets of Shanghai, especially in the years prior to the Expo, where the city's $75+ billion in upgrades resulted in the destruction of many unique neighborhoods to give rise to modern, faceless buildings. I lived in the Xuhui District, where many French Concession buildings survived the upgrades.
There was a restaurant on Wanping Lu, near the corner of Huaihai Zhong Lu, among a small cluster of restaurants in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Some of these specialized in yewei (野味), literally "wild flavor," meaning exotic or game meats. These places often offered dishes like wild boar, crocodile, turtle, snake, and other unusual proteins.
Many of these establishments operated somewhat under the radar; after the 2003 SARS outbreak, Shanghai authorities cracked down on wildlife consumption. As a result, most of these restaurants either closed or shifted to more conventional menus.
The current tenant, or perhaps the one next door, is Dongbei Siji Jiaozi Wang, a northeastern dumpling house. However, the space next door or one door down on Wanping Lu was previously occupied by one of those wild game restaurants. There was a wall about 100 meters long in front, below the window, that had hand-painted pictures of the yewei animals served there. I never saw a Westerner in the restaurant during the many times I passed by. I am certain I have a photo in my underdeveloped archive of thousands of images. I hope I live long enough to find it someday. A large portion of my archive is stored in China, though I currently reside in Southeast Asia.
I was surprised by the number of dog meat restaurants I saw when I cycled through south Guangxi recently from Guilin to Nanning. Also luosifen around Liuzhou - no thanks!
Took me about a week but was kind of boring compared to mye previous cycling along the yellow River and then from Chengdu to Guilin ... after Nanning I continued to Kunming and Dali, where the bike is now stored for the next stage in warmer weather up to the Nujiang.
I lived in Shanghai, and later Dali, for many years. My hobby was street photography, and I spent hours walking the streets of Shanghai, especially in the years prior to the Expo, where the city's $75+ billion in upgrades resulted in the destruction of many unique neighborhoods to give rise to modern, faceless buildings. I lived in the Xuhui District, where many French Concession buildings survived the upgrades.
There was a restaurant on Wanping Lu, near the corner of Huaihai Zhong Lu, among a small cluster of restaurants in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Some of these specialized in yewei (野味), literally "wild flavor," meaning exotic or game meats. These places often offered dishes like wild boar, crocodile, turtle, snake, and other unusual proteins.
Many of these establishments operated somewhat under the radar; after the 2003 SARS outbreak, Shanghai authorities cracked down on wildlife consumption. As a result, most of these restaurants either closed or shifted to more conventional menus.
The current tenant, or perhaps the one next door, is Dongbei Siji Jiaozi Wang, a northeastern dumpling house. However, the space next door or one door down on Wanping Lu was previously occupied by one of those wild game restaurants. There was a wall about 100 meters long in front, below the window, that had hand-painted pictures of the yewei animals served there. I never saw a Westerner in the restaurant during the many times I passed by. I am certain I have a photo in my underdeveloped archive of thousands of images. I hope I live long enough to find it someday. A large portion of my archive is stored in China, though I currently reside in Southeast Asia.
I was surprised by the number of dog meat restaurants I saw when I cycled through south Guangxi recently from Guilin to Nanning. Also luosifen around Liuzhou - no thanks!
I really like luosifen! It was my last lunch before leaving Guangxi this trip.
Im sure that's a beautiful ride. How long did it take? Looks like it's about 400km…?
Took me about a week but was kind of boring compared to mye previous cycling along the yellow River and then from Chengdu to Guilin ... after Nanning I continued to Kunming and Dali, where the bike is now stored for the next stage in warmer weather up to the Nujiang.